Am I trying to use paragraph and character styles too much?

[samjoy]

Ive got a good handle on indesign now but get in a real mess with paragraph styles and character styles. I seem to need to create new ones all the time to accomodate white text on black background different sizes etc and leading to make text fit places, Im working on a play program now with loads of ads to typeset, and then changing a text size thinking its all ok then find its put somewhere else out that uses that style somewhere else in the doccument I forgot. I end up using local formatting a lot to simplify things, am I trying to use these styles too much do most people tend to just use local formatting in brochures etc with display text/sub text ? Many thanks
Sam

 

[apepp]

...it's a good question sam...

...paragraph styles and character styles are no doubt extremely useful, as too are nested styles. As ever with these features they require an element of planning when used in a brochure and they no doubt play a big role in large document use that require consistency across many pages...

...for most work i tend to use local formatting first, getting the structure as i need and then creating styles later. For large brochure work it can help to first get sample pages approved before doing the whole lot. That is where styles do help because you can play around with the styles fonts and change a whole set of sample pages easily...

...i think typesetting is quite a big and important area in design and can sometimes be harder than many people realise, even with todays technology at our finger tips, getting content to fit can still be a challenge...

...i do believe it is good practice to make use of styles in situations where you know you need consistent text appearance throughout the underlying structure of a document. Certainly do use them for the basic and most common elements such as main headings, sub headings, body copy, page numbers at the very least...

...it does come down to what sort of documents you are building i think...

...sometimes i find myself wishing i had used styles when i hadn't, so it is good practice to keep using them...

...if your dealing with documents that require things like ad setting, then they will no doubt all require custom fitting most likely, so for those i would just use local formatting...

...many will tell you to always use styles, but i don't believe they are always necessary for every document you ever create...

...known documents you know come around again and again definitely benefit from style use. But using them on every single element inside a document is open for debate, but i would certainly use them for the basic backbone structure at the very least...


andrew

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[samjoy]

Many thanks Andrew i think youre right, Im going to have to turn things into styles at a later date then go through the doccument and turn them to styles as I go!
Cheers
Sam

 

[Nocandu]

Hi

I set up styles on the first page.

I work out headline size and font settings,and color.
I decide how much space between the head lines and the top of the copy etc.

I set all the copy preferences etc. and the space between paragraphs what ever. If necessary I make changes to the styles as I go. leading type size etc.

By the time I have the first page done all my styles are set and I can zip through the rest of the job in no time.

When I get to places that are not to the same plan I make the changes as I encounter them. For example a head that I want in revers out of a back ground color. I apply the style then just set it to "Paper" instead to the style color.

Since most of what I do anymore are menus styles are very useful.

Mike